Just Cause Movie in the Works with Aquaman Star
By Dalton Cooper 09 March 2017
The Just Cause franchise isn’t the most well-known video game series out there, but that’s not stopping Hollywood from adapting it into the next video game movie. Aquaman and Game of Thrones star Jason Momoa is attached to play the lead role of protagonist Rico Rodriguez, with the film to be directed by Brad Peyton of San Andreas fame and distributed by 20th Century Fox.
The script for the Just Cause film will be penned by John Collee, known for his work on Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. While the film is still in its early days, it sounds like the current plan is to have it fairly close to the plot of the video game series, with Rico Rodriguez embarking on a dangerous mission on behalf of the group known as the Agency. Whether or not the film will follow the plot of the first game or carve its own path from there remains to be seen, as further details about its story remain under wraps at this time.
While some gamers may be scratching their heads as to why Just Cause is being tapped for a film adaptation, it does seem like it has more going for it than most game-to-film projects. Peyton is a proven action movie director, and by the time Just Cause hits theaters, he will already have one video game movie under his belt, thanks to 2018’s Rampage adaptation with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
Before gamers get too excited about the Just Cause film adaptation, though, it’s worth noting that most video game movies tend to open to poor reviews and weak box office numbers. In fact, Capcom’s Resident Evil film franchise is perhaps the most notable game to film adaptation of the last 20 years, with most other video game movies falling short of box office expectations.
Despite their strong box office performances, the Resident Evil movies have been critically panned since the first film released 15 years ago. Most all video game movies open to scathing reviews, including some that looked like they had great potential before release, such as the Duncan Jones-directed Warcraft film and Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed movie starring Michael Fassbender.
Warcraft and Assassin’s Creed both flopped with critics, despite the involvement of each franchise’s respective studio. It’s unclear if Avalanche Studios or Square Enix is involved with the film adaptation of Just Cause, but without the input of the franchise’s creators, it seems like it would be at an even greater disadvantage than other game to film projects. Then again, Ubisoft was heavily involved with Assassin’s Creed, and that didn’t stop it from releasing to widespread critical disdain.
The Just Cause film doesn’t have a release date at this time.
Source: Deadline
